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Managingnext-generationITinfrastructureThedaysofbuildingtoorderareover.Thetimeisripeforanindustrialrevolution.JamesM.Kaplan,MarkusLöffler,andRogerP.RobertsTheMcKinseyQuarterly,Webexclusive,February2005Inrecentyears,companieshaveworkedhardtoreducethecostoftheITinfrastructure—thedatacenters,networks,databases,andsoftwaretoolsthatsupportbusinesses.Theseeffortstoconsolidate,standardize,andstreamlineassets,technologies,andprocesseshavedeliveredmajorsavings.Yeteventhemosteffectivecost-cuttingprogrameventuallyhitsawall:thecomplexityoftheinfrastructureitself.Therootcauseofthiscomplexityisthebuild-to-ordermind-settraditionalinmostITorganizations.Thetypicalinfrastructuremayseemtobehightechbutactuallyresemblesanold-fashionedautomobile:handmadebyanexpertcraftspersonandcustomizedtothespecificationsofanindividualcustomer.Todayanapplicationdevelopertypicallyspecifiestheexactserverconfigurationforeachapplicationandtheinfrastructuregroupfulfillsthatrequest.Theresult:thousandsofapplicationsilos,eachwithitsowncustom-configuredhardware,andajumbleofoftenincompatibleassetsthatgreatlylimitacompany'sflexibilityandtimetomarket.Sinceeachservermaybeconfiguredtomeetanapplication'speakdemand,whichisrarelyattained,vastamountsofexpensivecapacitysitunusedacrosstheinfrastructureatanygiventime.Moreover,applicationsaretightlylinkedtoindividualserversandstoragedevices,sotheexcesscapacitycan'tbeshared.Now,however,technologicaladvances—combinedwithnewskillsandmanagementpractices—allowcompaniestoshedthisbuild-to-orderapproach.Adecadeintothechallengingtransitiontodistributedcomputing,infrastructuregroupsaremanagingclient-serverandWeb-centeredarchitectureswithgrowingauthority.Companiesareadoptingstandardizedapplicationplatformsanddevelopmentlanguages.Andtoday'shigh-performanceprocessors,storageunits,andnetworksensurethatinfrastructureelementsrarelyneedhand-tuningtomeettherequirementsofapplications.Inresponsetothesechanges,someleadingcompaniesarebeginningtoadoptanentirelynewmodelofinfrastructuremanagement—moreoff-the-shelfthanbuild-to-order.Insteadofspecifyingthehardwareandtheconfigurationneededforabusinessapplication("Ineedthisparticularmaker,model,andconfigurationformynetwork-attachedstoragebox..."),developersspecifyaservicerequirement("Ineedstoragewithhigh-speedscalability...");ratherthanbuildingsystemstoorder,infrastructuregroupscreateportfoliosof"productized,"reusableservices.Streamlined,automatedprocessesandtechnologiescreatea"factory"thatdeliverstheseproductsinoptimalfashion(Exhibit1).Asproductordersrollin,afactorymanagermonitorstheinfrastructureforcapacity-planningandsourcingpurposes.Withthismodel,fillinganITrequirementisratherlikeshoppingbycatalog.Adeveloperwhoneedsastorageproduct,forinstance,choosesfromaportfolioofoptions,eachdescribedbyservicelevel(suchasspeed,capacity,oravailability)andpricedaccordingtotheinfrastructureassetsconsumed(say,$7amonthforagigabyteofmanagedstorage).Thesystem'stransparencyhelpsbusinessusersunderstandhowdemanddrivestheconsumptionandcostofresources.Companiesthatmakethetransitiongainbigbusinessbenefits.Byreducingcomplexity,eliminatingredundantactivity,andboostingtheutilizationofassets,theycanmaketheirinfrastructure20to30percentmoreproductive—ontopofthebenefitfrompreviousefficiencyefforts—therebyprovidingfargreateroutputandflexibility.Evenlargersavingscanbeachievedbyusin...